In his desperate attempt to unify Christian civilization and repel the threat of Muslim invasion at the turn of the 11th century, Pope Urban II gave a speech in 1095 urging knights and peasants alike to rally against those who had seized the Holy Land. Two armies—one of professional but unruly soldiers and another of untrained, superstitious rabble—swept across Europe toward Jerusalem, driven by a merciless religious fervor against all non-Christians. Michael Foss's remarkably vivid account of the First Crusade opens a window on one of history's most bizarre adventures, during which ordinary people changed the course of history.

"Foss's account points up the irony of this war, in which religion was pressed into the cause of violence and brigandry, and concludes that 'God—Allah—is not best served, if at all, by fighting.' A sobering narrative, well told, of a shameful episode that epitomized religious bigotry and intolerance."—Kirkus Reviews